Elastic material and its embodiment in articles of wearing apparel



L. R. THUN Dec. 3, 1940.

ELASTIC MATERIAL AND ITS EMBODIMENT IN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL Filed NOV. 19, 1938 FL E- L Patented Dec. 3, 1940 UNITED STATES ELASTIC MATERIAL AND ITS EMBODIMENT IN ARTICLES OF WEARING APPAREL Louis R. Thun, State Hill, Pa., assignor to The Narrow Fabric Company, West Reading, Pa., a

corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 19, 1938, Serial No. 241,330

' 1 Claim.

My invention relates to a novel elastic material and its embodiment in articles of wearing apparel, such as hosiery, to provide such articles with new and advantageous characteristics.

Heretofore, it has been usual, in the art of fullfashioned and other full length stockings, to

terminate such stockings a substantial distance above the knees of the wearer thereof. When such stockings are secured to elastic supporter straps of the type attached to an undergarment, in the ordinary way, no particular problem arises with respect to displacement or shifting of the stocking tops, or welts.

or effects resulting from bending the knees. Such strains and effects are also present in self-sup= porting stockings oi the type which terminate above the knees and which are held in position by separate, or attached, circular elastic garter bands. Furthermore, in stockings of the latter type, when the wearer bends the knee, the stocking part above the knee, including the garter, is pulled downwardly, particularly in the front. Such displacement causes discomfort, annoyance and the necessity of frequently repositioning the displaced elements of the stocking structure.

One of the, objects of the invention is to overcome these objectionable features in a stocking of the above-indicated garter band type by means of a novel elastic fabric which when attached to the upper end of stockings provides a welt performing the double function of garter means and strain absorbing means.

Another object is to provide a novel self-supporting stocking, of the type which terminates above the wearer's knee, as well as a new preformed welt for hosiery.

One stocking embodiment of my invention comprises a knitted leg-and-foot structure, of low walewise elasticity, with a novel separately formed single-ply stocking welt attached so as to form a direct continuation above said legand-foot structure that is capable of self-adjusting length Variations. This unique welt structure, or separately formedstocking continuation, comprises a pair of contiguous cooperating sections, or areas, the first of which incorporates an elastic yarn arrangement, which combines eflective self-adjusting leg-binding support with substantial freedom from stricture, and the other of which is universally elastic, or yieldable, and functions as a strain absorbing means. When this novel welt is attached to a stocking, the universally elastic section functions intermediate said first area and the leg-and-foot struc- Ill such stockings there exists, however, the problem incident to strains ture, to provide desired additional 'coursewise and walewise elasticity thereby to effect a strain absorbing area at this point in the stocking to counteract the conditions resulting from bending or flexing of the knee.

The stocking Welt of my invention, in one sense, may be regarded as a separately formed stocking continuation which functions to maintain the stocking in place on the wearer's leg, by simultaneously exerting uniform holding or gripping action, on the leg, and. providing for. strain absorption resulting from bending of the wearers knee.

Ordinarily, a stocking holding device, of the ring or band garter-type, depends almost ex clusively, for its holding action, upon its binding efiect on the leg of the wearer, such that, when placed over a stocking, or inside a folded Welt, the binding strength must be relatively great, to properly hold the stocking in position on the leg. To have such a garter, or welt, of sufficient binding effect to prevent its walewise displacement, upon bending of the knee portion, in an ordinary stocking, would be undesirable.

It is another object of the inventi n, to provide an upper elastic area in such stockings, in which the binding action on the leg of the wearer is free from harmful and uncomfortable contracting action, or stricture, and I accomplish this by the use of an elastic welt structure having one or more portions, uniformly distributed over the upper elastic area, each for effecting a slight skin-gripping action, whereby the holding ability of the elastic area is not entirely dependent upon its binding force, but upon a combination of this force with the skin-gripping action, and in which the lower elastic area of the welt structure is of univeral elasticity of such order that it functions as an intermediate area between the garter section and the knitted stocking fabric capable of readily stretching or elongating under the strains or walewise pulling action resulting in the stocking fabric when the knee is bent or Other objects of the invention reside in providing stockings of various novel forms having the above-mentioned, and the other advantageous characteristics, such as a stocking having a short elastic area or welt above the knee, with elastic portions of different characteristics interposed between the top of the welt and the leg portion of the stocking.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a novel method of manufacturing the indicated 5 ing two longitudinally extending contiguous fabric sections one of which is substantially more elastic lengthwise than crosswise and the other of which is universally elastic, and attaching a selvage edge of the latter section to an article of wearing apparel, or the fabric from which it is formed, so as to provide an article of wearing apparel embodying generally the features exemplified by my novel hosiery invention.

With the above and a other objects in view, which will become apparent from the illustrative embodiment of the stocking hereinafter described, and shown by the accompanying drawing, the invention further residesin the novel stockings, elements, features of construction and the arrangement of parts in cooperative relation, as hereinafter pointed out in the claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating, on a reduced scale, elastic fabric produced in accordance with the present invention, and as it normally appears while in unstretched condition;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the fabric of Fig. 1 as it appears when subjected to vertical and horizontaltensioning forces; and

Fig. 3 is a view showing the invention as applied to a stocking, and as it appears upon the leg of the wearer with the knee in bent position.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention the improved stocking, only a portion of which is shown in the drawing comprises a. foot (not shown), a leg I0, preferably of plain loops, and an elastic welt or stocking top I2 which, as best seen in Fig. 3, is adapted, when in use on the leg L of a wearer to be positioned above the knee K. The stocking top I2 comprises a top edge I3, and a lower edge II which is attached to the upper portion of the leg ill.

The elastic welt I2 is preferably constructed of ornaigental braid having elastic warp cords or stran 5 extending around the stocking, and the edge I4 attached to the leg III. The braid edge I4 may be joined to the upper portion of the leg III in any of a number of ways, as for instance, by topping in the manner disclosed in the U. S. Patent No. 1,985,210, by sewing, or oth-' erwise'.

When means for yieldably holding the top of the stocking, such as an elastic welt, is placed above the knee, the stocking-topwill ordinarily remain in its original position only so long as no unusual amount of longitudinal strain is exerted upon it, as occurs when bending the knee; this action ordinarily tending to displace the stocking top.

This invention provides means, directly forming a part of the elastic welt I2 for the stocking, by which a certain amount of walewise stretch of the stocking, caused by flexing the knee, may be compensated for, without afiecting the position of the welt upon the leg. The stocking is provided with a braided elastic welt I2, having a portion !8 which is preferably composed of elastic yarns arranged to permit stretch both walewise and coursewise of the stocking as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2. As best seen in Fig. 3 the two-way stretch'or universally elastic portion 58 permits the stocking area around the knee K to be stretched walewise, without displacement of the top edge I3 of the welt. The

insert 68 is also preferablyof greater coursewise elasticity than the leg portion I0 of the stocking therebelow. The welt further preferably in eludes, at the upper side of the insert I8 and including the upper edge I3, an area I9 providing practically only a circumferential stretch as indicated by the double arrow in Fig. 2. This feature of arrangement provides successive areas of progressively varied elasticity, to compensate for differences in the sizes and shapes of the legs of the wearers, as where a knee may be so formed as to partially destroy the inherent elasticity of the stocking, in which case the area I8 provides the elasticity intended. I have found it highly desirable that the portion I8 have sumcient walewise stretch to readily double its width or walewise dimension under transverse or walewise stress. This is indicated in the drawing by the fact that portion I8 is shown of the same width or. walewise dimension as portion I9 in Fig. 1, which shows the portions unstretched, but that portion I8 is shown as at least twice the width or walewise dimension of portion IS in Fig. 2, which shows the portions stretched both vertically and horizontally. A portion 20 is provided'adjacent the loweredge I 4 of the welt for facilitating attachment ofthe stocking I0 thereto.

The area I9 is preferably of a width and elasticity as will effect agalter action; and being in the area is; although providing a structure.

to which the top edge portion of the. knitted fabric may be readily and securely connected.

Various ways have heretofore been advanced for providing strain absorbing areas in stockings which propose to compensate for strains occurring during the wearing of stockings, such for instance as strains occasioned coincident with the bending of the wearer's knee. These prior attempts have apparently all been directed to forming such areas integral with the knitted stocking fabric and on a knitting machine coincident with the fabrication of the stocking. The present invention is however directed to the provision of a strain absorbing area for self-supporting hosiery, which area is embodied in, and which is preferably formed integral with, the garter portion of the stocking; said garter portion being formed separately from the remainder of the stocking.

A novel method of manufacturing articles of wearing apparel, such as hosiery, isalso embodied in this invention. Such method consists in takends of the elastic strip i2 so that the completed article of wearing apparel will have the characteristics of the elastic fabric I2.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the invention is of substantial improvement over preformed welts and stockings heretofore employed, of the type extending above the knees, particularly where held, as by ring-like garters, or employed with stockings extending only short distances above the knees. ings in place as well as those held by supporters extending along the legs, between undergarments and the stockings, prevents the damage sometimes caused by such supporters to the welts, is less costly to provide, and more convenient to employ, and has other advantages rendering it a distinct advance in the art to which it relates.

The term stocking top, or welt, as herein applied, means the upper extremity of the stocking consisting of the elastic braid l2 illustrated in the drawing, or the top portion of a stocking of other construction.

The elastic yarns employed in the production K of elastic fabric in accordance with the present invention preferably comprise fine rubber threads or yarns of the general type in accordance with the teachings of the Adamson Patent No. 1,822,847.

It is to be understood that this elastic fabric may be applied with equal facility and advan- It holds the stock-' tage to other articles of wearing apparel in which it is desired to embody the characteristics and functions as in the illustrative case of the hosiery; that is, where the one elastic portion tends to hold the article of apparel in position when being worn, and where the universally yieldable portion functions to absorb the strains and provide for elongation of the article of wearing apparel in accordance with conditions of strain.

The improvements specifically shown and described, by which the above-described results are obtained, may be changed and fabricated in various ways, without departing from the invention as set forth in the specification and claim.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture a stocking provided with a braided top having incorporated therein both an upper elastic garter section and lower elastic garter section, the upper garter section including elastic yarn providing practically only a circumferential stretch and the lower elastic garter section having elastic yarn incorporated therein so as to produce a two-way stretch both longitudinally and circumferentially of the top.

LOUIS R. THUN. 

